Death Unites Us
by basketcase1880
Summary: Based on the night after Michael's funeral and inspired from the prompt table with the word 'death'. How Jackie and Robbie respond to Michael's death and how Michael helped them from beyond the grave.
1. Chapter 1

DEATH UNITES US

By basket-case1880

**A/N: Based on the night after Micheal's funeral and inspired from the prompt table with the word 'death'. How Jackie and Robbie respond to Micheal's death and how Michael helped them from beyond the grave. Sorry if you like Brian, but there will be some Brian-bashing.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own them. The closest I am to owning Taggart is the small collection of DVD's I own and my iPod who is called Robbie. Oh, and the almost encounter I had with the team in Glasgow Central two or three years ago (I almost walked into Blythe).**

* * *

><p>The silence in the house was deafening and Jackie couldn't take it anymore. Michael was dead and Brian refused to come home for the funeral. One of her best friends, a fellow police officer had been killed by an escaped inmate of Her Majesty's Pleasure and he was acting like he couldn't care less.<p>

* * *

><p>Robbie was doing his usual, trawling the pubs and clubs for his latest bimbo, but he wasn't getting his usual pleasure from it. His mind just wasn't on blondes tonight, it was on brunettes, in fact, a specific brunette and he knew it shouldn't be. She was a married woman and one of his best friends. Also, Mike would probably come back and haunt his sorry ass if he did try anything with Jackie. Mike had been very protective of Jackie while he was alive and he doubted that would change now he was dead.<p>

But that thought wasn't going to chase away Robbie's concern and care for Jackie. If anything it was making it stronger, like Mike was urging him to go and see Jackie and reassure her that she would get over this, that he was there for her even if her 'husband' wasn't.

* * *

><p>Jackie was just about to open the bottle of wine she had sitting in front of her when the doorbell rang.<p>

"Who the hell is knocking on my door at this time of night?" Jackie asked herself as she made her way to the front door. She could tell that her visitor was male from his shadow through the door and from the way he was slouched she had a good idea exactly who was at her door. "Robbie, what are you doing here?"

"Dunno, Jacks," Robbie said as he slid past Jackie and into her house. "I was in the pub and every time I eyed up a girl, I just felt like it was wrong. As if Mike was telling me you were sad and alone. Trust me, coming here tonight wasn't in my plans, but that urge came over me in the pub and has only just settled like I'm meant to be here."

"Aye right, Robbie," Jackie scoffed as she made her way back into the living room. "Tell me why you're really here."

"Why won't you believe me, Jacks?" Robbie demanded as he grabbed Jackie's wrist in his hand. "I was sitting in the pub trying to flirt with this young thing that reminded me of Gaby when she was younger and I felt nothing. So when she got my drift that I wasn't interested, she left. And after that I got this urge to see how you were doing."

"That sounds like a load of tripe, you know, Robbie," Jackie sighed as she collapsed onto the sofa. "Especially after that case involving Martin Strange and your reaction to me telling you Jim Taggart was helping from beyond the grave."

"Will you just listen to me, Jacks!" Robbie almost yelled at his best friend. "Mike knew of how I felt for you and he warned me off you. I had a feeling there was some history between the two of you and went to Mike to ask if I could ask you to dinner and he told me to stay away from you. You deserved someone who wasn't married to the job like us cops are..."

"Ha," Jackie snorted. "Lot of good that did me, I've gone and did just that. Married Brian and he can't even tear himself away from that bloody taskforce to attend the funeral of a fellow police officer or support his wife at the funeral of one of her best friends if he didn't care much for Mike."

"Hey, hey," Robbie soothed as he wrapped Jackie in his arms as the tears cascaded down her face again. "I'm here for you, Jacks. If you ever need a shoulder to cry on or an ear to bend, I'm just on the other end of the phone. You can call me any time day or night and I'll be there for you in whatever manner you want me to be."

"I need you now, Robbie," Jackie said through her tears. "I need someone who understands my pain and what I'm going through. I need someone to hold my hand like you did when I found Mike and then when I was honouring his memory at the funeral."

Robbie grabbed onto Jackie's hand at that. "I'll do all that for you, Jacks," he reassured his long time friend. "You don't even have to ask me to do all that. I'll always be here for you in any way you want me to be."

At that, Jackie climbed onto Robbie's lap and nuzzled into his neck, inhaling his comforting scent. "Just hold me," she whispered as she began to fall asleep and he breathing evened out. "Just hold me close so I can sleep tonight."

Robbie wrapped his arms around Jackie and pulled her closer to him, this caused Jackie to snuggle closer to him and fall into her first restful sleep since Michael's murder.

**A/N: So how was it? I'm thinking of continuing this one shot with another chapter. Perhaps a morning after where Brian walks in and finds Jackie wrapped up in Robbie's arms. What do you think, let me know in a review or PM (I allow anonymous reviews).  
>Laura xx.<br>**


	2. Chapter 2

Death Unites Us

Chapter 2

**A/N: So, everyone liked the Brian bashing idea and wanted a second chapter with a face-off between the three of them. So, here it is. Also, this is the final chapter, but I may work on a sequel in the future. But I can't promise anything as I have loads of other stories to work on.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own them, only the plot and the small Taggart DVD collection in my room, episode collection on my Freeview+ box and Sky+ box. Everything else belongs to their rightful owners, no matter how much I want Robbie.**

**[PAGE BREAK]**

**Chapter 2**

The next morning, Robbie and were still wrapped up in each other's arms fast asleep. It had been so late when their mental exhaustion from the case and Mike's murder had finally pulled them into sleep. Their sleep was so deep that neither woke at the sound of a key in the front door. Nor did they hear Brian calling out to Jackie as he made his way through the house looking for her. They didn't even wake when he was standing over them glaring at them.

"What the fuck is going on here?" Brian demanded in an angry voice that woke Jackie and Robbie up. "I go away with work for a few days and I come back to find my wife asleep in another guy's arms."

"That is enough, Brian!" Jackie exclaimed as she climbed out of Robbie's embrace, rubbing the sleep out of her puffy eyes. "Robbie was simply comforting me after yesterday's events. You remember; when I buried one of my best friends and my HUSBAND couldn't be bothered to come home one day early to comfort me during the funeral and when I delivered the eulogy. Instead, I had to depend on two other people who were also grieving."

"If you needed comfort or someone to talk to, you could have phoned," Brian retorted, angry at how Jackie was talking to him. She had never spoken to him like that before. "I was just on the other end of the phone, darling. I would have answered your call."

"I don't think you understand what Jackie is talking about, mate," Robbie interrupted. "What she was saying was that she needed YOU here yesterday. It was bad enough having to identify Michael's body, but then she had to investigate his murder, go through his things and deliver his eulogy at his funeral. Aye, Stuart and I helped her with some of that stuff, but Jackie knew Mike the longest, she's suffered the most. It was like she lost a brother…"

"Excuse me, D.I. Ross," Brian interrupted as he saw Jackie edge closer to Robbie's side. "I'd appreciate it if you left. This is a matter between me and my wife, so I'd like to talk to her alone."

"No, he stays!" Jackie demanded grabbing Robbie's arm. "Robbie's right, Brian. I needed comfort from my husband, but without it I almost drank myself into oblivion. Robbie gave me that comfort in a way that a FRIEND could, he stopped me from drinking myself into oblivion."

"I'm sorry, Jackie," Brian began and both Jackie and Robbie thought he was going to apologise for the way he had treated Jackie. "But ever since we got back from our honeymoon you've been preoccupied. I now know why. Me or him, you choose."

"That's ridiculous, Brian!" Jackie exclaimed. "I'm not choosing between one of my best friends and my husband."

"I've got to agree with Jackie on this one, Brian," Robbie smirked, pleased that Jackie had referred to him as one of her best friends. "You can't make her choose. Especially when she's so emotionally vulnerable."

"Well, our marriage vows say I can. What happened to 'forsaking all others as long as we both shall live'?" Brian asked. "And in this case it's obvious that actions are speaking louder than words. You can expect divorce papers within the next few weeks, so go and pack your things."

"What are you talking about?" Jackie asked. "What are my actions that are 'obviously' speaking louder than my words?"

"What you are doing just now is contradicting what you are saying," Brian explained. "When I asked Robbie to leave, you grabbed his arm and you haven't let go of it at all. If anything has changed, your grip has tightened on his arm."

"Well then," Jackie fumed as she wrenched her rings from her finger and placed them on the coffee table. "If that's how you feel, I'm leaving."

"You're choosing him over me, your husband?" Brian demanded not believing Jackie. "I always knew there was something between the two of you."

"Enough, Brian," Jackie yelled as she got right up in his face. "You have just accused me of choosing Robbie over you and told me to leave. Now that I am leaving you, you're accusing me of cheating on you. Green isn't a good colour on you, neither is red."

"Jackie, darling, come on," Brian pleaded, suddenly changing his temperament. "When I gave you that ultimatum I thought you would fight for us. I thought WE were worth fighting for."

"I thought so, too, Brian," Jackie agreed. "But then your jealousy showed itself and I realised we want different things from this marriage. You want the perfect housewife to raise your children; I just wanted to have someone who understood my erratic and unpredictable hours. We're both too very different people with different ideas of personal independence who shouldn't be married to each other. I do love you, but I've come to realise it's not the type of love you have for someone you are married to, it's the kind of love you reserve for a distant friend."

"Very well, then. If that's how you feel," Brian sighed as he collapsed onto the chair behind him. "But you're not getting anything from me."

"Good job we didn't merge our accounts then," Jackie scoffed. "Oh, and you can have this place, but I want the car. I need it for work."

"Bloody hell, Jackie!" Brian exclaimed as he sat up. "So do I need the car for work. What am I supposed to do?"

"Company car," Robbie replied with a smirk. "The Strathclyde Police budget doesn't stretch as far as that, but I'm sure your fancy task force does. Come on, Jacks. Let's get you some stuff packed for the time being and you can stay at mine for the time being. I've got a spare room besides Jamie's and it's all yours until you find a new place."

Jackie just smiled at Robbie as she led him up the stairs to her room to pack her bags. Brian just sat where he was and watched them leave the room. He had hoped he would have been able to tame Jackie, but it was obvious there was only one person who could come close to doing that and it wasn't him. All he had succeeded in doin was driving her away from him and into the arms of the only man who could achieve the impossible by taming her; Maryhill's answer to Casanova.

[PAGE BREAK]

Upstairs, Jackie was piling clothes from her drawers and wardrobe into her suitcase as Robbie stood at the door watching her as if he was her bodyguard.

Looking at her, he could see she was hurting on the inside, but on the outside she put on a brave face. As he watched her move around the room, Robbie made a promise to himself. He knew how emotionally draining divorce could be, so he promised himself that he would be there for Jackie whenever she needed him. He was just thankful that there were no children involved because Jamie had told him how hard it was, despite his young age, growing up without his dad being right there beside him at all the important bits.

"It's going to be hard," Jackie said, suddenly bringing Robbie from his thoughts. "Starting over. I know it's only been a few months, but still…"

"I know, Jacks," Robbie agreed knowing what she was talking about. "But I'll be there for you through it all. I've been there before with Gaby, so I know what you're going through. You can count on me."

Jackie smiled at that as she closed her suitcase and moved to Robbie's side only to surprise him by taking his hand. "Here's to starting over," she said as they began to descend the stairs to her freedom.

"Yeah, starting over," Robbie agreed.

**THE END**

**A/N: Let me know what you think of this one. I love to hear how you feel about my work.**

**Probably won't be working on Taggart stories for a little while. Got an NCIS WIP, one chapter left on my Eastenders story and a sequel to start on a Buffy story I promised ages ago.**

**Laura xx**


End file.
